On soggy New York farms, tractors sit idle

On soggy New York farms, tractors are sitting idle and their owners are growing anxious waiting for skies to clear. Fruit trees typically in bloom or on the verge of blooming are barely showing signs of budding.

By The Associated Press

MPNnow

By The Associated Press

Posted May. 9, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 9, 2011 at 9:13 AM

By The Associated Press

Posted May 9, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 9, 2011 at 9:13 AM

Rochester, N.Y.

On soggy New York farms, tractors are sitting idle and their owners are growing anxious waiting for skies to clear. Fruit trees typically in bloom or on the verge of blooming are barely showing signs of budding.

Agriculture experts expect the unusually wet spring will translate into later-than-usual harvests of vegetables and fruits. But if heavy rains persist through May, they warn, that raises the prospect of no plantings of cool-season crops such as broccoli, spinach and peas.

The New York Farm Bureau is holding out hope that a run of warm, sunny weather will quickly turn things around. While it’s been a slow start — especially in western and central New York — spokesman Peter Gregg said Wednesday he doesn’t think farmers are “hitting the panic button just yet.”

For many farmers, it’s already the latest growing season in memory, whereas last spring was one of the earliest — with fruit trees blooming in mid-April.

In some regions such as Long Island, a plenitude of greenhouses and protective plastic cold frames is giving growers a jump on spring plantings. But at most of the state’s 36,000 farms, nature is proving to be an excruciating drag.

“The fields are just very muddy and inhospitable to getting tractors rolling, and so that’s very frustrating,” Gregg said.

“Usually it’s not too long after the snow melts that we try to get out in the fields and begin tilling and planting. But that really hasn’t happened in a lot of cases. All across the state we are late.

“It’s not only been rainy, it’s also been cold and gray. A good stretch could dry things out and get us active very quickly, but it doesn’t look good for the rest of the week anyway.”

Crop production specialists at Cornell University worry that an extended rainy spell could leave scabby lesions on apples and stress raspberries and strawberries that suffer from inadequately developed roots.

For good and ill, abundant rainfall also deters insects.

“Early-season insect pests are actually deterred in their egg-laying by the rain and, in some cases, they are a week or more behind normal development,” said Arthur Agnello of Geneva, a professor of entomology at the college. “However, if the rain continues into May, bees may not be as able to effectively pollinate all the fruit blossoms, so growers will need to take this into account when deciding how much thinning is required.”